Lunar Rift

A propulsive sci-fi thriller that pits American and Chinese moon colonies against one another.

Logan Reynolds is an engineering director who’s temporarily in charge of Asgard, an international (though mainly American) lunar colony at the moon’s South Pole, while his boss travels to Earth for budgeting discussions. Tang Lei lives on Shangdu, the Chinese moon colony, serving as governor of its ruling committee; despite her role, she’s skeptical of Communist Party propaganda, both on Earth and in the colony: “Why are my fellow citizens so paranoid that the capitalist West is out to destroy us? Lei found it ludicrous, considering the richest people on Earth included Chinese nationals who accumulated their wealth through capitalist business.” Safrini “Rini” Riyani is an asteroid miner who’s keen to explore new opportunities in space. Once the novel carefully establishes each of these characters’ perspectives, it scrambles the narrative with the explosion of a nuclear bomb on Earth, leading to immediate global nuclear war and annihilation. Logan’s temporary leadership becomes permanent, and he must now develop a plan—not only for the future of his colony, but for all of humanity. To make matters worse, many in the Chinese colony believe that the United States “wiped out China with their nuclear weapons,” so they want to immediately destroy Asgard in retaliation; Lei, however, wants to stop this course of action from happening. In the midst of this already heated conflict, Wegener unexpectedly introduces the perspective of yet another character: Jonas Anders, the president of the United States, who managed to escape Earth in a “Space Orbital Bunker.” He claims that he didn’t order a nuclear strike; in fact, he believes that a nongovernmental entity orchestrated a synchronized attack. Wegener keeps the propulsive story moving at a breakneck pace, with secret agents, double-crossings, and rogue elements. Yet, the story also takes moments to slow down and delve into larger global and political issues, as characters intriguingly grapple with the remnants of nationalism, and whether it should persist beyond Earth.

An always entertaining, thoughtful balance between action and deeper issues.